The Trials of Superman
by funkwolf
Summary: Metropolis's most dangerous criminals have been removed by a mysterious company called Euros Technologies, in order to set the stage for Superman's new enemy. But the illusive leaders of Euros have a plan set out for Superman that will push him past the breaking point. Adding insult to injury, Euros knows everything about him and use this knowledge to force Kal-El to work with them
1. Chapter 1

The Trials of Superman: Chapter 1

"It is said that the Nemean Lion would take women as hostages in order to lure heroes into the jaws of death."

* * *

Sten listened to ticking sound of his pocket watch as backstage staff stood behind the curtains with him. The knowledge of time was unimportant, the events had already been set in motion. But, for Sten, there were just a few moments of peace to relish before everything started to unfold.

The pocket watch ticked like the gnashing of teeth until a shadow appeared in front of Sten and he closed the pocket watch in response. "Mr Euros." The smartly dressed man with glasses said calmly. Sten nodded and got up, he adjusted his tie and took to the stage.

* * *

"Ladies and Gentleman, Mr. Sten Euros will be making his speech now." The spokesman took a bow and left. Sten took his place. The audience clapped. Among the audience were scientists, socialites, reporters and Clark Kent. Clark stood with his fellow reporters from the daily planet. Lois Lane and James Oslen. The Stage was set for full coverage of one of the most influential men in Metropolis. "Good Evening, Metropolis." Sten began his speech with professional care. "Tonight, I can safely tell you that all of the moderate and high level criminals of Metropolis have been successfully transported to Euros Prison. The world's first space prison." A round of applause began for Sten, so he waited like a gargoyle until silence filled the room. "We have already started making plans for transporting special case criminals from all over America to Euros Prison. However, this does not mean that we are completely safe. Zod, the general from Krypton, remains to be subdued and may one day seek to cause more havoc and he is not the only one." A large monitor fell behind Sten, the audience held it's breath in anticipation as the clockwork menace flickered to life. Images appeared on the screen, the first one was a large flock of mutated humans that seemed to be mixed with birds. They bore sharp talons and their entire bodies were covered in feathers that seemed to shine. The next picture took it's place, this one was gray. But it showed an image of what looked to be a parasite. The next and final picture was blurred, it showed what looked like a robot the size of a giant man of twelve feet with multiple limbs, which were being used to fire the missiles that caused the pictures blur. Sten nodded and the monitor blackened before disappearing the same way that it had appeared.

"Those images you saw were just a fraction of what we must now face and the reasoning behind the large upgrades to the police force and science labs. The first picture you saw was, regrettably, a human creation. Star labs has created a monster of unnatural proportions. In an attempt to make super humans like superman. They merged the DNA of an already genetically altered breed of bird called the 'bronze eagle' with a green beret and medal of honour man called Jack Harper. The result was a feral beast that was unstable at a cellular level. It should have died moments after it killed everyone working in the lab that day, however, for some unknown reason, it split; effectively cloning itself. At first there was one. Now there are hundreds, tomorrow there may be thousands."

Some of the audience gasped, others grumbled as they bit theirs lips or fumbled with lighters and pens. "The second image is of a parasite that seems to come from a meteorite. It is deadly and highly infectious, we know no cure for this parasite. The only thing we can say for sure is that it lives in water supplies and has been spread across this side of the country by cattle. We did not show images of what this parasite does to humans, because this meeting is being broadcasted. A safety pamphlet will be issued on this parasite tomorrow morning in all newspapers as requested by myself and the mayor of Metropolis. The final image shown earlier was of a highly advanced piece of war-like battle technology and is the danger that we know the littlest about. It appeared in Kansas farmland and has been rampaging on it's way here ever since." Sten finished and waited for the right question to lead his way into the plan. The question came from Lois Lane. "How can we expect the police force to combat forces of science and nature that are this destructive?"

"We can't." Said Sten. "The police are the most equipped they've ever been. Yet they can only protect the citizens of Metropolis. For this threat, we must rely on Superman. But-" Sten quickly stared down any reporters before he continued. "But he can no longer be the one-man vigilante that he has been in the past. Make no mistake, Superman is this city's guardian angel. But he has caused collateral damage on countless occasions. Nobody has been indirectly harmed by Superman, but property has always been damaged. An affordable loss, if these were the old days, but these are not the old days. Times have changed, a new threat looms into the fray, what connects these three dangers are that they are all moving towards Metropolis. Superman does not have the tact to handle such an overwhelming trio of enemies all at once and we cannot allow the usual collateral damage to become a hazard towards human life. So Superman will either stand with us as we face this new danger together or he will stand against us as a fallen angel that we can no longer leave to handle our fates. You have twenty-four hours to comply, Superman."

* * *

Sten finished speaking and eased his gaze a little. The entire audience exploded with questions that they had all been bursting to ask and Sten did his best to answer some before leaving. After which, the rest of the question were handled by the starting spokesman. But Clark, Lois and Jimmy had left.

The trio of reporters left the building and took to the streets. Jimmy hailed a cab and left Clark and Lois on their own. "Mysterious, 5 foot 9 Caucasian in his late fifties with a muscular build and grey hair." Lois said out loud, as if expecting this to be a good starting point of a conversation. "Was seeing him in the flesh anything like how you expected him to be?" Clark asked this. Seemingly aware of what his partner was talking about. "Regardless of what I was expecting, that man really does know how to reveal the right amount of information." An hour later Lois entered the subway and Clark was finally left alone.

* * *

Sten sat back in his chair with a glass of chilled whiskey in his hand. He faced an open window and was prepared to wait hours for the arrival of Superman. But Superman showed up in minutes. "Waiting for someone?" Superman asked.

"Waiting for you. So I thank you for not keeping an old man waiting." Superman entered the office without Sten's approval. But he didn't seem to mind. "Are those trio of dangers you showed earlier really as bad as you made them out to be?" Superman asked, half interrogating Sten and half intimidating him. "No Superman." Said Sten. "They are far worse. For starters, there are many more. This information comes from a reliable source, a backer of Euros Technologies."

"Who." Growled Superman.

"If I told you that and all of the dangers heading our way right now, you'd fly out to try to stop them all and ended up getting people hurt. If you want to help Metropolis, you need to take a step back and handle this with delicacy. A single one of these threats can wipe out this city and we are facing numerous threats. So, do you understand why this city needs you to work with it?" Sten asked this question and expected Superman to try and stare him down but he instead nodded. "I have no problem working with the police force and, if need be, you. But I will not work for you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way Superman. Now, if you accuse me. I'm off to bed, your early arrival has saved me a lot of time and intend to use that time to have a peaceful sleep. Perhaps my last." Sten stood up after he said this and turned to leave, but Superman stopped him. "One more question. Why is Metropolis being targeted?"

Sten stood silently for a moment before he answered with a sigh. "Because of you Superman, every single threat, be it biotic, synthetic or pathogenic has a high enough level of intelligence to understand the food chain and that you're at the top. If you die, I'm told that these monsters will tear each other and metropolis apart for total domination." Before he left, Sten decided to tell one more thing of noteworthiness. "It would be a good idea if you reacquaint yourself with the chief of police tomorrow. He will lead you to the person helming this operation and she will be the person who you will be receiving directions from. As for me." Sten paused and then took a slight bow, knowing that shaking Superman's hand would probably not be the smartest of ideas. "You will never see me again, this is where I bow out and leave the stage. Men of action will be taking the spotlight." Superman left, almost as soon as Sten had finished talking. Sten was left alone, so he sat back down at his desk and opened a drawer. Carefully putting a single hand inside, he took out an old photograph of Martha Kent.


	2. Chapter 2 Red Eyes

The Trials of Superman: Chapter 2 Red Eyes

Lois Lane paced the editor-in-chief's room in a foul mood. Perry White, the owner of the room. Sat back, rubbing his temples in frustration. "And just what did Clark say that persuaded you to let him go?" Lois asked, slamming her hand onto the chief's table for answers. "Clark said that with all of this danger suddenly surrounding this area, his parents could be in danger." Perry took a pause out of weariness, knowing that the next line he said would be like telling Lois to drop a bomb. "And after that, he upped and left." Lois slammed her hand against the desk again and leaned in closer. "Why didn't you stop him, threaten to fire him or order for him to be dragged back in here?" Perry decided that he was getting nowhere and asked for his headache to go away as he stood up. "Now listen here Lois! These events WILL be published here, with or without Clark Kent! So don't you come in here, telling me what I should have done!" Perry sat back down, his face slightly red as the headache got worse. "What's next?" Lois asked. Perry waited a while to get his breath back before answering. "Nobody knows when these two monsters and that one freakish parasite will get here. So go snoop around Eros Technologies for a bit, find out where Sten Euros went." Lois nodded and left. Perry leaned back into his chair until the next person showed up, effectively earning a groan in response.

* * *

Euros Technologies had not been over exaggerating the new upgrade to the MPD. All of the on-duty policemen had been equipped with a power armour, which made the majority of them stand slightly over seven feet. Superman would be foolish to believe that the shiny new equipment didn't come with advanced training, so he decided to enter as Clark Kent the reporter; asking for Maggie Sawyer. But surprisingly, Sawyer had taken a large group of police and left without notice. On top of this, and even more surprisingly, there was a new police commissioner and she immediately sent for him over a com link that Dan Turpin, the only other policeman that Superman trusted, was using. So, Dan silently marched Superman to the commissioner's office.

* * *

Upon arrival, Dan knocked on the office door three times before opening it. Before Superman entered Dan whispered "I don't trust her. She hasn't done anything suspicious yet Superman, but she knows more than she's letting on." Superman didn't even nod as he entered. But Dan knew that he would have heard, so he went back down the long hallway to train the new rookies that had been brought in. Superman, on the other hand, was startled by what he saw. The new commissioner was the exact opposite of what he had anticipated, for starters, she had a small stature. But her strangiest traits were her white hair and red eyes with black pupils. She was definitely not a normal person. Superman kept a stone face and waited for the new commissioner to speak. The woman in question smiled and put down her pen before speaking. "So, the blue boy scout with red undies finally makes an appearance. Sten told me that you'd be coming and that you'd agreed to work with us." The commissioner stood up and stepped over large piles of completed work as she made her way towards Superman. "And I'm glad that you have agreed. You are the person that everybody in Metropolis trusts and this operation will go much more smoothly if everybody is aware of how every detail of the plan will follow out and, well, a rogue element, such as yourself, can cause the state of play to change rapidly. Normally, this isn't a bad thing, but I'm sure that even you agree that everybody has to behave and make every action count in order for not a single human life to be lost."

"I agree with the precautions you're taking. But don't start getting any ideas about trying to control me." Superman said this with a grip that made it sound like hardened warning, a warning that he had given before. But the commissioner smiled. "It seems we have an understanding. My name is Commissioner Adira Samos, you can call me Adira or Commissioner, Superman. In fact, mind if I just call you Kal-El?"

Superman's fists tightened into a grip. "How do you know my Kryptonian name?" He asked. Adira cracked her knuckles and then held them in that position. "I was told your name and origins by some of my higher-ups. But I find that the most interesting details came from Johnathan and especially Martha Kent. Such good-natured and well-mannered people." This provoked Superman into throwing a strong punch at Adira, but she easily caught it and held Superman in place. So he threw a punch with his other fist and was shocked when Adira let it hit her. The punch connected dead center with the side of her forehead with such a force that air blasted around Adira's head. But Adira didn't move and didn't even seem particularly bothered by Superman's punch. At worst, she was bleeding slightly from a light gash. Adira smiled and tightened her grip on Superman's captured knuckled. Then she swung Superman like a ragdoll before smashing him into the ground in front of her, from overhead. Superman was up almost instantaneously and rapidly sped around Adira, who stood waiting for Superman to attack. Finally, Superman threw a lightning punch at her, but she patted the fist away, grabbed onto his head and extended shoulder, then bit his neck. Superman groaned as drops of blood hit the floor, but he managed to pick Adira up and throw her off of him, smashing her into a wall.

Superman held a hand over his open wound whilst Adira licked the blood on her lips. "You're a little weak, but those muscles of yours are still the ideal image, a godly sex symbol." Superman moved in for round two, but Adira held out a hand to stop him. Then she straightened her police uniform and commissioner jacket before speaking. "Pa and Ma Kent are safe. I had them evacuated long before any of the current situation was made public. You should be thanking me really, that parasite would have turned Smallvile into a ghost town, had myself and others not have had the forethought to send Captain Sawyer to retrieve everybody from here to Smallville."

"Where are they?" Superman growled with deadly intent.

"Somewhere where she can keep making me those delicious home cooked pies." Adira said dryly. "Answer me!" Ordered Superman.

"I did." Adira told him in a provoking manner. Superman clenched his fists and took a fighting stance and Adira did the same, but with a joyful smile. "You better tell me-" Superman began, but the commissioner interrupted. "I can't. In all honesty I would like to, but my hands are tied on this one."

"Even if that were true." Superman said, his voice darkening. "That doesn't change the fact that you've just been messing with me since I got here."

"You can blame that on yourself. Flexing your muscles that way you did, even if I did tease you a little, you shouldn't be doing stuff like that. Sex god." Adira had gotten underneath Superman's skin and was clearly enjoying it, so Superman calmed down and took a step back. "How can I trust you people if you move behind my back and withheld information? The same thing you've accused me of being prepared to do."

Adira sat behind her desk again, although most of the paperwork and fallen off and scattered themselves around the room, and started to work again. "Evacuating Johnathan and Martha Kent was a one-time occurance in order to save lives, we didn't only evacuate them after all and we won't do anything without telling you ever again. As for withholding information. I'll grant you this. From now on, whatever I'm told by my superiors will be passed on from me to you. Even if they tell me not to tell you. Is that good enough." Adira stopped writing and looked up at superman. Creating an odd effect with red coloured eyes. "If you uphold your end of the bargain then we won't be having any further problems."

"Good." Adira said looking half-focused. She brushed her white hair with her hands a little, due to some strands that stuck out slightly, after finally seeming relaxed, she continued in a professional manner. "We'll start the operation immediately, Sten's already told you that everything that's got Metropolis in a state of panic is in reality after you, so we need you to travel to the now deserted smallville and wait there. I'll follow you with half of a special unit that has been prepared for this, the other half will stay here in case the damn pests don't immediately change course. Any questions, no, then off you go." The commissioner waved Superman off before he had a chance to speak. But he wasn't particularly interested in sticking around with Adira any longer and left immediately. After Superman had left, Adira waited for a while. Then she traced her finger across her lips.


	3. Chapter 3 Unexpected Occurances

The Trials of Superman: Chapter 3 Unexpected Occurances

As soon as he had left the Metropolis Special. Police Station. Superman shot into the air like the crack of a whip and broke the sound barrier in a mad dash for Smallvile. Normally Superman would have left this matter to the special police, however, greater hands were at play here and Superman knew that he had to get to the bottom of it all. So playing along was something that he'd just have to put up with for now.

* * *

When he had reached the familiar farm ground, surrounding Smallvile, Superman stopped in mid-flight for an eagle eye view of the situation. Down below, everyone wore a gas mask and people were busy fencing the area of. The whole place smelt of burnt flesh. Spotting Maggie Sawyer, Superman joined her on the ground for her take on the situation. Maggie was also wearing a gasmask. "Superman, before you even go anywhere near some of the sites, you're going to have to put on a gas mask." Maggie handed him a gas mask as she said this. "That's alright, I'll be fine without-"

"You either go in with one or you don't get to go in at all." Maggie cut Superman off and was being deadly serious in every action she took. "This parasite kills quickly, like nothing I've ever seen before and I don't doubt that it could even kill someone like you." Superman gently took the gas mask from Maggie and attached it to himself, his breathing now sounded a lot heavier. "Do you have any idea about how far the parasite has spread?" Superman asked this and Maggie looked over at Smallvile in response. "Well, that's what's strangest about this parasite, it didn't spread at all. It travelled in a single direction that would make one assume that it was heading for Metropolis and just happened to pass through here."  
"What about the places where you know that the parasite has been before getting here?" A couple of men with flamethrowers passed Superman and Maggie, on their way to Smallvile. "The parasite taint is still there, but it seems like we've managed to trap the main body here, for the most part, the places that still have taint have been evacuated and sectioned off. In any case, the process that removes the parasite can be done by us. So I'm not sure what you can do to help out." A voice spoke up behind Maggie as she said this. "Perhaps I can help with that." Adira stepped out of a standard police car and joined the conversation. "Superman, you better come with me. I'll explain things further, once we're inside of Smallvile. Officer Sawyer, good work." Adira walked away several feet and clicked her fingers at two police rookies who got her a gas mask. "You better go see what she wants. In the meantime, keep your wits about you, I don't trust her at all." Maggie gave her advice and left to enter the back of a large SCU van. Adira beckoned Superman over and left for Smallvile, leaving Superman to follow her.

* * *

"It's strange that the biological attack was the first attack that we, the SCU, noticed and managed to stop." Adira remarked this once this had entered Smallvile and Superman found himself amongst the familiar buildings and homes of his hometown. "So your sure that it's a biological attack?" Superman asked, probing Adira for information. "That's what I need you to help me with. If the parasite reacts to you in a way that suggests following, then we know that all of these so called 'dangers' are attacking in an effort to kill you." Superman grimaced slightly at the thought of so many different hostilities, endangering the lives of so many just to get to him.

Inside one of the general stores, a small portable science lab had been set up. "Put out your right arm." An older woman said as she stood by with a needle. Superman begrudgingly allowed the scientist to take his blood. "How will we know if the parasite is specifically targeting me?" He asked. Adira was the one to answer this. "We'll set four other blood sample within range of the parasite sample and observe which one it will go to first. For all we know, the parasite could split it's numbers and go for all of the blood samples." The scientist finished taking Superman's blood and made her way over to a group of vials and began to fiddle around. A few minutes later, she turned on a microscope and connected it to a large overhead project. "Now don't blink or you'll miss it." Adira said playfully. Superman ignored her and watched the projection on the screen above him. The screen buzzed into life and a swarming mass of parasitic creatures were shown. They were nightmarish in sheer concept alone, but actually seeing the monsters could turn the stomach of any man. The screen seemed to zoom out to show several vials connected to a vial of water via tubing. Superman watched the scientist use a small blowtorch on the vial of water, off screen. On screen, the water began to evaporate, normal parasites that attacked liquids should have had no option on which vials they ended up in. But during this test, something happened to only one vial of blood. It began to cloud, then it dried up until it became visibly brittle. "Guess whose blood that was." Adira said. Not in the least bit surprised that the test had proven that the parasites were indeed attracted to Superman. "Thankfully, and with any luck, burning the cattle and either purifying or removing any and all volumes of water from the infected zones shouldn't be a problem. But at least we know now that the other two monsters, perhaps the ones that have yet to make an appearance, are after you."

"You believe that we could do something with that knowledge?" Superman asked Adira. Adira paused for a moment as she thought to herself, but she eventually answered. "We could try and shoot you out into space and hope they follow." She quipped with tactlessness. "Be serious." Superman commanded, but Adira wasn't at all shaken. She just smiled until a large explosion shook the building and a jet of flame set fire to the room. The scientist screamed and backed away until she was caught by Superman. "I'll see you outside, get her to safety." Adira commanded and began punching her way out of the building. Superman picked up the scientist and flew straight through the roof with an outstretched fist. Then he carried the woman to safety and put her down. Flying back, Superman got his first sight of his second monster in one day.

* * *

Standing the size of a colossal twelve feet. The robot in front of Superman travelled on four legs that teetered around like a mix between a spider and a crab. Large saws, lasers and missiles were attached to the machine and the top rounded off in reinforced metal. "Someone went a little crazy on the designs of this." Adira shouted to Superman when she saw him enter the fray. But he didn't have time to answer her, because a missile was fired at them. Superman used his heat vision to blow up the missile before it reached him and the robot responded by charging Superman and Adira. "Take out the legs." Superman yelled and Adira rushed forward, grapping one of the machine's legs. Superman grabbed the other and flew into the air in an attempt to tear the machine in half. However, a laser rotated from the robot's chest plate to it's shoulder and fired at Superman. Who was knocked out of the sky and hit the ground with a thud. The machine steadied itself back on the ground and, in doing so, knocked Adira off of balance. Then it fired a missile at her and sent her backwards into a building. The robot seemed to have the capability of moving any of it's weapons around it's whole body. When Superman got up, the machine concentrated all of it's lasers in the center of it's body and fired them all at Superman. Who used his heat vision to repel the lasers. Adira then came charging out of a pile of rubble and tore of a saw blade. The robot stumbled backwards and lurched itself on the side of a building, before going mad and firing missiles and rockets in all directions as the robot's weapons rotated themselves around the it's body. Superman flew straight into the reinforced top of the robot and sent it sprawling through a building, but it quickly pulled itself up and sidestepped out of Superman's way. "Nuisance robot, how dare you make me look bad!" Adira shouted as the robot repositioned itself.

"We need to get it into the air, can you hold it into position so that I can lift it from underneath?" Adira chuckled at Superman's politeness.

"Sure I can you big blue boy scout. Just be quick about it." Adira charged for the robot and then backed off, tricking the robot into coming at her for melee combat with one of it's saw blades. She then jumped on top of the robot and began pounding on it with her fists. The robot fired missiles and tried to reach Adira with it's saw blade, but she held on and managed to stay out of direct fire until she felt the whole thing shudder. Underneath Superman picked the robot up and gave Adira time to jump off, then he flew up into the sky and continued upwards until the robot started to freeze with patches of ice. Then, Superman pulled the helpless robot around and flew straight back at the ground as quick as he could. The ground impact tore up any earth that hadn't already been damaged.

"The damn thing isn't going to be getting up any time soon." Adira remarked, her knuckles bruised and swollen. She then kicked the robot's undamaged forehead and winced slightly as she put her foot back down on the ground. "Normally I'd ask Star Labs to look at something like this, but they're not..." Superman paused as he remembered that Star Labs had been destroyed by the Human-Bird hybrid mutants. "I'll have Eros take a look at it." Adira said and started to lug the robot over her shoulder. "In the meantime." Adira began. "Return to Maggie and ask report to her about all of this. Including the fact that you're the center of all of this." Superman nodded and took off into the sky.


End file.
